Judge reserves ruling on Age journos

Date: January 10 2013

Melissa Iaria

A Supreme Court judge has reserved his decision on whether two Fairfax journalists should be compelled to give evidence over a banknote bribery case.

The Age journalists Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker were subpoenaed to give evidence at a committal hearing for former executives of a Reserve Bank of Australia subsidiary allegedly involved in a bribery conspiracy to secure contracts to make plastic banknotes.

Fairfax sought a review of the decision in the Victorian Supreme Court, arguing the magistrate's ruling requiring the pair to take the witness stand is unclear.

The subpoenas were issued to the journalists following a story in the newspaper on December 8, saying Indonesian businessman Radius Christanto had agreed to testify that the executives had used him to pay bribes to Indonesian officials in return for contracts.

Defence lawyers want to cross-examine the journalists so they can identify the source of the report.

However, Fairfax barrister Kristine Hanscombe SC told the Supreme Court on Thursday the magistrate's ruling, compelling the journalists to testify, was unclear.

Dr Hanscombe said the magistrate's reasons did not shed light on how compelling the pair to testify could lead to obtaining evidence about alleged misbehaviour of investigating officers, through leaking to the media.

"This is a case where we say the reasons are bad," she said.

Dr Hanscombe flagged the possibility of another magistrate taking charge of the committal hearing.

However, barrister Campbell Thomson, for former Note Printing chief executive John Leckenby, argued any other magistrate would reach the same conclusion.

Mr Thomson said the ruling was clear.

He said the report was published in the closing stages of the committal and if the material was fed to the newspaper with the intention of disrupting the hearing, "that's the most appalling abuse of justice that one could imagine".

Justice Michael Sifris will make his ruling before January 26.

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